China raises its retaliatory tariff on the US to 84% as it vows to 'fight to the end'
Bangkok, Apr 9 (AP): China again vowed to "fight to the end" Wednesday in an escalating trade war with the US as it announced it would raise tariffs on American goods to 84% from Thursday.
Beijing also added an array of countermeasures after US President Donald Trump raised the total tariff on imports from China to 104%. Beijing said it was launching an additional suit against the US at the World Trade Organization and placed further restrictions on American companies' trade with Chinese companies.
"If the US insists on further escalating its economic and trade restrictions, China has the firm will and abundant means to take necessary countermeasures and fight to the end,” the Ministry of Commerce wrote in a statement introducing its white paper on trade with the US.
The government declined to say whether it would negotiate with the White House, as many other countries have started doing.
On Friday, China announced a 34% tariff on all goods imported from the US, export controls on rare earths minerals, and a slew of other measures in response to Trump's “Liberation Day” tariffs. Trump then added an additional 50% tariff on goods from China, saying negotiations with them were terminated.
Wednesday's newest measures include adding 11 American companies to a so-called “unreliable entities” list that would bar Chinese companies from selling them dual-use goods. Among the companies are American Photonics, and SYNEXXUS, both of whom work with the American military.
So far, China has not appeared interested in bargaining. “If the US truly wants to resolve issues through dialogue and negotiation, it should adopt an attitude of equality, respect and mutual benefit,” said Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Lin Jian Wednesday.
The paper says that the US has not honoured the promises it made in the phase 1 trade deal concluded during Trump's first term. As an example, it said that a US law that would ban TikTok unless it is sold by its Chinese parent company violates a promise that neither would "pressure the other party to transfer technology to its own individuals."
Trump signed an order to keep TikTok running for another 75 days last week after a potential deal to sell the app to American owners was put on ice. ByteDance representatives called the White House to indicate that China would no longer approve the deal until there could be negotiations about trade and tariffs.
The paper also argued that taking into account trade in services and US companies' domestic Chinese branches, economic exchange between the two countries is “roughly in balance.”
It says that China had a trade in services deficit with the US of $26.57 billion in 2023, which is composed of industries like insurance, banking and accounting. Trump's tariffs were designed to close trade deficits with foreign countries, but those were calculated only based on trades in physical, tangible goods.
“History and facts have proven that the United States' increase in tariffs will not solve its own problems,” said the statement from the Chinese commerce ministry. "Instead, it will trigger sharp fluctuations in financial markets, push up US inflation pressure, weaken the US industrial base and increase the risk of a US economic recession, which will ultimately only backfire on itself."
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Kerala HC upholds life term of 5 BJP workers for 2006 murder of CPI(M) activist in Kannur
Kochi (Kerala) (PTI): The Kerala High Court has upheld the life sentence of five BJP activists for the murder of a young CPI(M) worker by throwing a bomb at him in Kannur in 2006, terming it as another incident of a person losing his life due to the political rivalry between the two parties in that district.
A bench consisting of justices A K Jayasankaran Nambiar and Jobin Sebastian noted that the killing of 24-year-old Yackoob by throwing a bomb at his head was a retaliation for the assault of a BJP worker a few days before the incident.
"This is another incident in which a young man aged 24 years lost his life as a victim of the political rivalry that existed between CPI(M) and BJP, two political parties, in Kannur district," the bench said.
It upheld the decision of the trial court convicting and sentencing to life Vijesh (43), Prakashan (48), Kavyesh (43), Manoharan (31) and Sankaran Master (49), saying there were no discrepancies in the statements of the witnesses -- party colleagues of the victim -- who had faced the attack and named the five accused as the main perpetrators.
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The bench said that the post-mortem findings were consistent with death due to a blast injury to the head, "with total loss of the brain".
"A conjoint reading of the evidence of the doctor and the post-mortem certificate issued by him undoubtedly reveals that the death of Yackoob was homicidal and that the injury sustained to the head resulted from a bomb blast," the High Court said.
It also noted that two of the witnesses had suffered injuries in the attack on the CPI(M) activists by BJP workers on the night of June 13, 2006, and their version of the assault was consistent with the nature of the wounds found on their bodies.
The bench also accepted the version of two of the witnesses that they saw one of the accused throwing a bomb at the head of the victim, which exploded and killed him instantly.
The defence lawyers had claimed that the statements of the witnesses were not the same and had differences, but the bench rejected it.
The High Court also rejected the defence argument of a delay in lodging an FIR, saying that the police initially went on patrolling to ensure law and order was maintained in the area to prevent other similar incidents, and a case was registered six hours after the death of the victim.
The bench also said that though the bomb was hurled by one of the accused, all of them were liable for the murder, as the act was done in furtherance of the common objective of the unlawful assembly to kill Yackoob.
"The accused, who inflicted a grievous injury on the head of the deceased by hurling a country-made bomb and causing an explosion, cannot be heard to say that they did not conceive an intention to murder the deceased in this case.
"Resultantly, we confirm the findings, conviction, and sentences passed by the Additional Sessions Judge," the bench said, dismissing the appeals of the five accused against their conviction and life sentence.
According to the prosecution, the accused BJP workers hatched a conspiracy to kill Yackoob, a CPI(M) activist, and on June 13, 2006 formed themselves into an unlawful assembly armed with dangerous weapons, including country-made bombs, and criminally trespassed into the house where the victim and his party colleagues were present.
On seeing the accused armed with weapons, the victim and his friends got scared and ran in different directions, and as they were attempting to escape, a bomb was thrown at the head of Yackoob, the prosecution had said.
The bomb exploded and killed the CPI(M) activist on the spot, it had said.
